All of these ideas spit in the face of what’s considered “acceptable” or “the norm.” But they worked spectacularly well not in spite of this… but BECAUSE of it.

Here is what you need to know if you want to create innovative marketing that works…You have to have thick skin

In Malcom Gladwell’s 2009 New Yorker article called “How David Beats Goliath,” Gladwell says that innovators have to be willing to do things that are “socially horrifying.”

When you NEVER punt, people will think you’re a weirdo: Coaches, parents, opposing teams, and even your players. You must be willing to be hated by your competitors, mocked by “the establishment,” and even questioned by consumers.You have to learn to be creative

Look at your business from EVERY angle. Leave no idea—no matter how weird or impractical it seems—off the table.

Avis knew they were the second most popular car-rental service. Ninety-nine out of 100 companies would never, ever think about saying that in an ad. But Avis said, “Well, why NOT say it in an ad?”

What’s that? You say you’re not creative? Boloney. It’s not that you’re not creative… it’s that you don’t know HOW to tap into your creative side.

There are plenty of great books on how to unleash your inner creative genius, so I won’t go into details here. But one piece of advice I can give you is to study successful stand-up comedians. Guys like Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, and Jim Gaffigan dissect the mundane aspects of everyday life and look at them from new, unexplored angles. As a result, they can transform even the most boring things—like shopping at the supermarket—into something funny and interesting.

Make sure there is a method to your madness

Watch this highly entertaining 6-minute video about Kelley, and one thing becomes apparently clear: All of his zany schemes have statistics to support them.

Analytics show that never punting results in more points. Failed 4th-down conversions yield relatively few gains for the opponent. And always going for the two-point conversion instead of kicking the extra point is statistically a better option as long as you convert above 50%.

When an ad says “We’re No.2, so we try harder” that ad is going to get read. The same with a headline about a car that simply reads “Lemon.” Curiosity-based headlines are statistically proven to be effective.

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Bottom line: When you get to 4th down, don’t be afraid to keep your offense out there.

People might think you’re crazy. And you may want to call an audible and go back to the same old safe “punt-on-4th-down” strategy you’ve been doing.

But stick with it… and make Coach Kelley proud.

-Rich

P.S. Since we’re discussing innovation, you should know that MYM has “Coach Kelley’ed” the pay-per-click game with No-Risk PPC.

There is no monthly budget.

You pay for the leads only AFTER we deliver them to you and you review them.

We guarantee a cost per lead of $200 or less.

People in the industry think it’s nuts. Our competitors hate it. Contractors who aren’t clients wonder how the world it can possibly work.